We in our little middle-class Berkeley enclave do not feel we live in a big, bad, dangerous city. Yeah, we see stuff happens. Our house was broken into seven years ago, and we’ve had a car vandalized on the street in front of our place. Offhand, I can think of more than a half-dozen burglaries on our block since we moved here 20-some years ago, including a couple that happened within the last six months. Unbeknownst to anyone here, last week there were several burglaries on the street just west of us. As it happened, one of the homes that was broken into had security cameras installed. According to the Berkeley police, here are the images captured:
If nothing else, these two look prepared: the bags. The baggy, anonymous white T-shirts that can be taken off and thrown away (“Officer, I saw someone wearing a white shirt. …”). I’d also note that the blocks where the burglaries occurred are within a four-minute walk of the BART station. Lots of students go in and out of there, and a couple of young people carrying big bags would attract no attention at all.
Wish I had a picture of the people who got away with my two laptops back in 2002.
Those are fantastic photos. The t-shirts look like they just came out of the package. You know how you can’t buy certain over the counter medication without showing an ID, and kids can’t buy spray paint (around here, anyway)? Well, I foresee a time when you have to show ID to buy packaged underwear. I’m just kidding. I think. I hope.
My neighborhood isn’t what it used to be. Yesterday when I was sitting outside reading a book, I noticed a couple riding their bicycles up and down the street a couple times. A short time later, they came walking up the street. The female stopped, bent over, tied her shoe, while the male stood there scanning the houses on the other side of the street. I was enthralled and watched them walk on up the sidewalk until they turned the corner, but not before the female stared at me starring at her. Sitting here now, I’m thinking they both had on white t-shirts. I didn’t call the police.
In Japan “foreigners” (for lack of a better word, most aren’t immigrants either legal or otherwise) complain about the amount of surveillance in the country. Cameras are set up in streets and in businesses. Not that it’s the same as this because it was a private residence. Just made me think, if there were cameras on the street where the kid was beaten to death in Chicago there might be less of a need for “snitches” to come forth. Of course they would have to be good cameras… not shaky cell phone cameras. Those are only good for entertainment on youtube and the nightly news.